No surprises: what we showed the plant before signing and where each payment goes

01 / The doubt

'Just give me one number', and why we don't

The plastic packaging plant near Vinnytsia couldn't staff its third line, and the director decided to bring in operators from Kyrgyzstan. The decision rested with the finance director, Larysa Petrivna. Two years earlier she had paid an intermediary for an 'all-in package': one sum per person covering everything. Half the people never came, and when she asked how much of that sum would be returned, the intermediary said the state fees had already been paid and nothing could be refunded.

So her first words at the meeting with Olena, head of our company projects, were: give me one number per person. Olena replied that we don't quote one number precisely because it explains nothing. Instead the plant would get a calculation in which every payment has its own recipient, timing and basis.

Larysa Petrivna gave us a week and a list of questions she wanted answered in writing. We answered all of them before the contract was signed. Olena also asked for the data a calculation can't be accurate without: job titles from the staffing schedule, pay for each job, and whether the plant provides housing and transport. The plant had its own housing, so the project services line came down to transport from the border.

What the total includes

Which components, who receives them, and for what

State fees

How much, what they depend on, who we pay

When we pay

At which step of the route each payment falls

If someone doesn't come

What's refunded, what isn't, and who fills the place

02 / Components

Four components, four lines and nothing hidden

The cost of a project with foreign workers has four components, and in our commercial proposal each sits on its own line with its own payment details. The plant pays state fees directly to the state, and we add no mark-up or 'facilitation fee' to them. If a state fee is built into a service in someone's calculation, that's a reason to ask what it really costs.

WORKIN's fee equals one month of the worker's official salary, so it depends directly on the job and the pay the plant offers. It differs for operators and packers, and we showed it separately for each job in the calculation. How our service price is set is described on the pricing page.

1. 01

   WORKIN fee

   Recruitment, candidate checks, arrival and handover to the shift. One month of the worker's official salary.

2. 02

   Migration partner

   Translations, preparing and filing documents, residence permits, deadline tracking. A separate invoice.

3. 03

   State fees

   The permit fee under the statutory formula. The plant pays directly from its own account.

4. 04

   Project services

   Housing, transport and meals if needed. A separate line on an agreed schedule.

03 / The state fee

The statutory formula and a decision on the permit term

The state fee for a work permit is the same for every employer and depends only on the permit term. We don't fix the amount in hryvnias in the proposal in advance: the law expresses it in subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons as of 1 January of the filing year, so the exact sum is known at filing. In the proposal we showed the formula and an indicative amount based on the current subsistence minimum.

For the plant, the key question was the term. The director wanted two-year permits so he wouldn't have to revisit the documents. Larysa Petrivna wanted one year because it was cheaper. We set both options side by side: a one-year permit plus a one-year extension costs more in total than a single two-year permit, but with a two-year permit the plant pays up front for someone it hasn't yet seen at work.

The plant made the decision itself: the first group got one-year permits, with an extension for the second year for those who stay. That way the plant pays for the second year only for proven people. We entered the extension window date in the deadline register straight away. We showed the extension fee in the calculation too: it is one subsistence minimum less than the fee for issuing a permit for the same term.

04 / Payment schedule

Every payment tied to a step of the route

What reassured Larysa Petrivna most wasn't the calculation itself but the schedule: when the plant pays and for what. We tied each payment to a step that has been completed or is starting. WORKIN's fee is split in two: half after the contract is signed and half after the workers start their shifts. If someone doesn't start, there's no second half for that person.

The plant pays the state fee from its own account before the application is filed. It's not a formality: if someone else pays, the application is left without motion. Invoices for the partner and project services come separately, each from its own recipient. For the plant's accounts department we listed the documents that come with each payment: a contract and completion certificate for the WORKIN fee, a receipt for the state fee, and the partner's invoice and certificate. That way accounts knew what to post and when, without monthly queries. The whole route from request to shift that these steps are tied to is described on how it works.

1. Contract

   Contract signed with WORKIN; first half of the fee.

2. Selection

   CVs and video interviews, with the plant approving each candidate. No new payments.

3. Filing

   State permit fees directly from the plant's account; the migration partner's invoice.

4. Arrival

   Project services: transport from the border and housing if the project provides it.

5. First shift

   Second half of the WORKIN fee for each person who starts.

05 / The candidate

Someone coming to work doesn't pay for the job

One of Larysa Petrivna's questions concerned the candidates rather than the plant. The previous intermediary, it later turned out, had also taken money from the workers. For the plant this isn't only an ethical issue: someone who has paid several months' wages for a job arrives in debt and looks for better-paid work from day one.

In our project candidates pay nobody for placement: not WORKIN, not our partner in Kyrgyzstan. Each signs an information sheet recording the job, pay, working hours and housing, and separately which costs they cover themselves. On the same sheet they confirm by signature that they were not charged for placement. The plant receives copies of the sheets with the CVs, so it sees each candidate's confirmation rather than just our word.

06 / If things change

What's refunded, what isn't, and who fills the place

We didn't put off the hardest question; we answered it in the proposal. The state permit fee is refunded only if the permit is refused, to the employer's account within 10 working days. If the permit is issued and the person doesn't come, the fee isn't refunded, and a new candidate needs a new permit with a new fee.

That's exactly why we keep a candidate reserve and confirm each person's readiness at several points: before filing, after the permit, and before tickets. If someone starts work and leaves within the guarantee period, the WORKIN replacement guarantee applies: at least 6 months, provided the agreed working, pay and housing conditions are kept, and repeat recruitment isn't charged. The plant pays state fees, partner services, flights and living arrangements for the new worker, as for the first. None of these lines appeared in the calculation 'later'.

• permit refused: the fee is refunded to the plant's account;
• permit issued, person doesn't come: no second half of the WORKIN fee for them, and a reserve candidate fills the place;
• person starts and leaves within the guarantee period: replacement recruited at no extra charge;
• a new candidate for the place: a new permit with a state fee, plus partner services;
• all of this is written into the contract before the start, not discussed afterwards.

07 / The proposal

A document the finance director signed without changes

A week later Olena sent the plant a commercial proposal: separate calculations for operators and packers, the state fee formula for both permit terms, a step-by-step payment schedule, a sample candidate information sheet and a section on no-shows and replacements. With it came a draft contract setting out the same terms in legal language. You can see what such a proposal looks like on our commercial proposal page, and the contract on the WORKIN contract page.

Larysa Petrivna read it all in an evening and asked one question: could we price the same project for eight people instead of fourteen? We did, and the difference was linear, with no hidden fixed charges. After that the contract was signed without a single change.

From there the project followed the usual route. Citizens of Kyrgyzstan enter without a visa, so six weeks passed from contract to first shift. More on that route on our visa-free entry page. The plant could also have made its own preliminary estimate for its headcount in the calculator, and there's more on these decisions in our guide for directors.

08 / Outcome

Fourteen operators and a calculation with no surprises

Structure

Four components on separate lines with separate recipients

State fee

By the statutory formula; one-year permits with extension for those who stay

Schedule

Each payment at its step; second half of the fee after the first shift

Candidates

Pay nothing for placement, confirmed by signature

No-shows and replacements

Answered in the proposal and contract before the start

There's nothing WORKIN can't solve in a project's finances either: we show every payment before the contract, explain what the state fee depends on, and answer up front the questions that usually come up only after a problem. What a project looks like when an intermediary quoted one number and vanished is covered in the scenario about stalled permits, and what happens when a candidate doesn't appear after the permit in the scenario about a no-show after the permit. More on our pages about workers for manufacturing and production workers.

09 / FAQ

Questions and answers